


Buried in Water

by Merit



Category: DCU
Genre: Alternate Universe - Historical, Alternate Universe - Merpeople, Gen, Past Torture, Pirates, Transformation, mermaid - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-10
Updated: 2014-04-10
Packaged: 2018-01-18 20:56:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,620
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1442569
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Merit/pseuds/Merit
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Stephanie stood at the end of the plank and didn't want to die.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Buried in Water

Stephanie Brown can barely stand. The pirates behind her are raucous, cheering and cursing, a wall of nastiness and rank odor. They have heard her scream for days as Black Mask tortured her. This is their final amusement.

Black Mask has a musket against her back and he presses it cruelly against her back. It digs into her back and Stephanie hisses. The remains of her blood smeared dress offer scant protection from the assault.

“This will send a message to the one they call Batman!” Black Mask cries out and his crew yells their approval. “And you,” he turns to Stephanie, voice growing louder, “Time to walk the plank!”

She pales. Throughout her – ordeal, she doesn’t want to think about it in any greater depth – time on his ship Stephanie has desperately hoped for Batman, then anyone to rescue her. No one had come. She doesn’t want to die a coward (she doesn’t want to die) so she straightens and juts out her chin. Stephanie gives the crew, the False Facers, a cool glare.

She’s near the end of the plank she when sees a ship on the horizon. She squints.

Even Black Mask notices and he looks away for a moment and curses at his crew. A small man quickly ascends to the lookout. Several tense seconds past and Stephanie begins, again, to hope that she might survive the day. The small man, probably not much more of a boy, finally calls out that it is ship.

Mutters spread across the shit and the men start grasping their cutlasses and swords. Black Mask smiles. Stephanie shudders.

“It looks like we have company, men!” He calls out. The False Facers start to move, men running to their posts. With their masks on, odd and strange and all measures of unsettling, they seem chilling to Stephanie.

“It is the Bat’s ship!” The lookout calls out and the False Facers pause for a moment before they spring back into motion. Their motions seem deadly, chaotic. Black Mask laughs and Stephanie shivers. Everything he does disturbs her. She runs her hands down her dress, reminding herself that she is still here. The wind buffets her and she hunches down, willing herself not to cry.

“Do you feel hopeful?” Black Mask asks, sounding like a proper gentleman. Stephanie has known too many gentlemen to ever trust his genteel tone.

Stephanie looks at the ship, Bat’s ship. It is coming closer but. “No,” she whispers. The wind must carry it to Black Mask because he cackles. It is frightening. He cocks the musket at her. Stephanie takes a deep breath and walks off the plank. Better to die this way than give him further satisfaction.

The water is a shock, cold and bracing against her bloody and open flesh. Stephanie flinches and screams but she only swallows water. She struggles to the surface, suddenly hating her heavy wool dress. She gasps as she reaches the surface.

Black Mask’s crew is sailing away. Sailing to fight Bat’s ship, or to try and out run it, Stephanie doesn’t know. But when they see her emerge one of them throws an old pot at her. It hits her shoulder and Stephanie screams as a fresh bombardment of pain overwhelms her. A wave crashes over her head and she slips deeper underwater.

She’s sinking, thrashing in the water but her efforts aren’t enough. Weak from the Black Mask’s torture, from days of starvation, the light from the surface above grows dimmer. Every wound screams from being exposed to the chilly salty water. The cold water eats away at what little energy she has. Darkness fills her stinging eyes.

Stephanie breathes out and watches her final breath bubble to the surface. It seems so far away. She couldn’t possibly make it, Stephanie thinks dully. She burns, the lack of air _hurts_. She is so consumed with watching the water above her that she doesn’t notice _them_ approaching. It isn’t until one touches her arm that Stephanie weakly turns. Her vision is growing dark and she sees slippery creatures moving at the edge of her vision. Fear grips her. She hadn’t thought about _sharks_.

The creature in front of her has black hair though, Stephanie thinks, her thoughts tumbling and falling over each other. The creature has a face of a woman and is so beautiful. Stephanie would sigh, if she could. The creature leans forward and breathes precious air into her. Stephanie gasps, her hands flailing. The creature, the one with the beautiful face, has icy cold lips but Stephanie relishes her touch.

The creature leans back, a small smile on her lips. She swims away a little and Stephanie notices for the first time that she has the upper body of a human woman and the long scaled tail of sea creature. A mermaid, a siren, Stephanie thinks wildly. She thought they were just randy old seaman’s tales. The mermaid smiles, tilting her head, her black hair floating prettily around her lovely face.

_Underwater_! Stephanie’s eyes widen and she takes a deep breath in her panic. The ocean water fills her lungs but she doesn’t feel a burn in her lungs like she did just moments ago. Stephanie takes another deep breath and the cold ocean water seems to revive her. The hurts and wounds that Black Mask inflicted on her start to fade away. Stephanie shifts her shoulders and the deep cuts he meted out on her do not sting and pain her. She stares at wonder at the beautiful mermaid in front of her. The mermaid smiles and starts to swim away.

“No!” Stephanie tries to say, because she doesn’t want to be left alone in the deep dark ocean. It comes out oddly, distorted by water. The brunette mermaid tilts her head as she ponders Stephanie. She gestures for Stephanie to follow.

Stephanie does after several seconds. She’s breathing in sea water but it doesn’t seem to hurt. Is this what happens when you drown? She wonders. Do you dream of creatures with the faces of beautiful women with fish tails? Maybe she’s dead, but the thought does not send chills down her spine. Stephanie doesn’t feel dead either.

The mermaid always stays a couple paces ahead of Stephanie. She stops suddenly when she sees that Stephanie takes longer to swim. She always has an attractive welcoming expression on her face. The deeper, the further Stephanie swims, the clearer her vision becomes. Slowly the silvery tail of her rescuer becomes visible. It glimmers and shines even deep under water. It is a beacon that Stephanie continues to follow even after her limbs start to protest. She’s not used to swimming for long and Stephanie pauses, floating in the middle of the ocean. It doesn’t help that’s she wearing a heavy dress.

It isn’t hers. Her uniform has been taken from her, a ragged dress the replacement. She starts to pull it off. It has been reduced to rags after her time as a prisoner of Black Mask and Stephanie only feels relief as it sinks to the bottom of the ocean. She’s naked now but she feels no shame. The water is cold and soft against her skin. She remembers not so long ago that she felt the cold so bitterly. She only feels joy that she’s free now.

The other creatures, the other mermaids, circle her. Their tails are blue and purple and gold. Stephanie is calm as two of them approach her, reaching out with long fingers. Their fingers don’t end in nails, but in claws, a dark silver and look extremely sharp. Their hands are cold, but soft and they pull her along. They move much faster now. They sometimes pass fish but Stephanie only gets glimpses of small, fast moving bodies before she is whisked away. One of the mermaids, a girl with a long gold tail, laughs and it is like music coming from far away. There is something about their faces that digs at her. They’re familiar in some way.

When they lead Stephanie to a sea cave, Stephanie doesn’t feel surprise. After so long under water, in the cold and the deep pressure of the ocean, she feels numb. The mermaids have let go of her now and Stephanie misses their touch. Several of them are nudging with cold hands, nails carefully tucked in, her higher, higher to the surface. It is bright here, the water warmer and Stephanie suddenly misses the deep below. There are so many hands on her, pushing her forward, that she can’t stop. Stephanie breaks the surface of the ocean and gasps.

The air burns as it goes down her throat. It feels like she is drowning but only in reverse. A few mermaids surface as well, her black haired savior and the gold tailed mermaid. The rest wait under the surface, eyes bright and Stephanie shivers, a little afraid. Looking down at them like this, they look like predators.

“Come,” says the gold tailed mermaid and she swims into a small cove. The black haired mermaid smiles a bit ruefully and takes Stephanie’s hand. She tugs her, gentle, but purposely. Stephanie follows. The waves slam into the rock and she shudders. If a wave picked her up and threw her against the rocks, she would surely die. However the black haired mermaid has a firm grip on her hand as she leads her into the cove. The gold tailed mermaid is whispering to a red haired mermaid.

“Barbara Gordon!” Stephanie whispers. Her words are soft but the words carry over to Barbara. She looks up and coolly regards Stephanie for several seconds. The gold tailed has an impish expression of her face.

Stephanie is so consumed with staring at Barbara she doesn’t notice that the water has grown shallow enough for her to stand. Not until rocks scrape against her feet and she winces. The black haired mermaid disappears from her side after giving her a gentle push. Stephanie makes her way slowly to where Barbara is sitting, half in and half out of the water. Her tail is black, a rich dark color of the night’s sky, threaded through it are glimpses of yellow and purple.

The air is cool, especially when she is wet from the ocean. Stephanie shivers and crosses her arms, suddenly conscious that she is naked. Barbara looks amused, though Stephanie can barely tell. From the corner of her eye she sees more mermaids enter the cove, their forms sinuous and deadly looking even under the calmer water of the cove.

“I kept on telling Batman to stop encouraging young people,” Barbara says. “He says they come to him,” her voice is ice, “But I doubt him sometimes.”

“Did he send you to save me?” Stephanie asks, hope blooming in heart that he did care, he wasn’t going to let another Robin die.

Barbara shakes her head. “Cassandra decided to save you,” she says, pointing to the black haired mermaid. “Of course Anita thought you would make a nice shark’s dinner,” she murmurs and the gold tailed mermaid gives her a wicked grin, arching her tail up in the air before bringing it down on the water. The water sprays Stephanie in the face and Anita giggles. Stephanie can tell she’s teasing.

“Thank you,” Stephanie says to Cassandra, bowing to her. Cassandra smiles and inclines her head.

“Now what am I to do with you,” Barbara says, leaning forward, the movement exposed her back and the mark where the Joker paralysed her is a faded white, half covered by the scales that edge up her spine. Barbara catches Stephanie looking and raises one fine red brow. Stephanie blushes and stares down. The water is calmer here. “He didn’t do this to me,” Barbara says, running her hand down her black tail. “I made that choice,” she says fiercely. She shrugs, wet tendrils of hair sticking to her shoulders. “I can do so much from here,” she adds.

“What?” She asks and immediately bites her lip.

Barbara’s smile grows deadly. “Oh I can swim by all the ships, listen to their gossip, and hear all their secrets. My girls can sing across the ocean. Nothing stays a secret. Not from me,” she pauses, watching Stephanie with steely eyes. “And if a ship is lost at sea?” She shrugs, cool and calm. “Who would guess that my girls had circled it, old rusty swords in their hands, swimming up to kill the crew.”

“Batman doesn’t like killing people,” Stephanie whispers. It is something that he had hammered in her head during her scant weeks of training.

Barbara lets the silence grow heavy before she smiles. Her teeth are silver bright and wicked sharp. “I don’t like killing people,” she says and it only feels like half a lie, “But when the crew have been dropping dead bodies for miles, what can I do? Let those slavers have their gold in the New World?” She shakes her head and the mermaids in the cove are whispering. “No, no, no,” they sing, and it is beautiful in a dangerous way. Most of them have dark skin, Stephanie realizes. Underwater she had only noticed their glimmering tails. They have reason to sing their anger and it is otherworldly with grace and beauty, the sound reverberating off the cove’s walls. Stephanie can easily see how sailors would be lured to sharp rocks and dangerous waters. She almost wants to take a step back, back into the water and let the water take over.

“I want to go back,” Stephanie says.

“You don’t have to,” Barbara says quietly. “Cassandra has already given you the kiss,” she says, waving a hand at Cassandra. “Air will always feel a little bit painful for you. But without it you would have died, your body would have sunk to the ocean floor, food for the small creatures that live there.”

Stephanie shudders, imaging her fate. “You could have saved me earlier,” she accuses. She takes a deep breath and Barbara is telling the truth. Tiny pinpoints of pain follow each breath.

“Could I? Nothing stays a secret but sometimes, often I don’t have the information in time,” Barbara’s eyes cloud and she looks down at her hands. “I don’t have the numbers. The men on the death ships kill my girls,” she says. The other mermaids sing a lament, sorrow for their lost sisters. Barbara closes her eyes, fine lines appearing on her brow.

For several moments Stephanie is tempted. Batman is going to be furious at her. He only tolerates her, he doesn’t treat her like a true Robin like he does with Tim.

For a brief second she wonders what it would be like to be a mermaid. Stephanie imagines what it would be likes to gracefully swim through water, to be surrounded by sisters who would love and avenge you, to listen to the waves and the secrets from sailors, to attack ships and bite the life blood out of sailors. It is enticing. Stephanie has very little back home. But, Stephanie thinks, the earth bound deserve someone as well.

Stephanie flips her hair, the wet strands falling heavily against her back. She grins at Barbara and shakes her head. “I think my path lies elsewhere,” she says, watching Barbara’s eyes darken. Stephanie Brown never really knew Barbara Gordon, but she doesn’t think her eyes were so big before she became a mermaid. She swallows, because she doesn’t know where she is, she’s naked still. She is still at Barbara’s mercy. “I think I can help in other ways,” she says.

Barbara tilts her head, the angle alien. Stephanie wonders how such a long and narrow neck can support her head. “Go on,” she whispers. The other mermaids are circling Stephanie, their tails sometimes flicking against her skin. It is not a threat, not exactly, but a warning.

She licks her lips. “There’s always going to be information that isn’t said on boats,” she says, words tumbling out of her. “Gotham’s a big city,” she says. “I’ll be busy.”

“It might be for the best,” Barbara says, eyes distant. “Batman doesn’t need another anchor around his neck,” she shakes her head. “He took so long to recover from Jason’s death.”

Stephanie nods quickly.

“But it is best that you don’t tell anyone about us,” Barbara says, her green eyes mesmerizing. Stephanie can only murmur her agreement. “Man’s tools grow sharper with every year,” she says, growing pensive. Her gaze drifts over to the mermaids assembled. “Cassandra. Come forward.” The black haired mermaid that originally saved Stephanie swam forward and settled on the small sand bar next to Barbara. “You shall be her contact. You shall swim the dangerous waters around Gotham’s docks. You must avoid the sight of man.”

“Yes,” Cassandra says and her voice is husky, sounding unused. The air must hurt her, Stephanie realizes.

“Anita?” Barbara says and the gold tailed mermaid swims up to Barbara. “Get Stephanie one of the dresses we have. It’ll create more of a fuss if she shows up on the shore naked,” she adds, a small smile dancing on her lips.

The dress that Anita hands her is a musty pink, stained and much too large for Stephanie. She pulls it over her head, twisting away from the fabric. The wool chafes at her wet and sensitive skin.

“Cassandra will take you back to Gotham,” Barbara says. “You can arrange meeting spots, times,” she waves her hand, suddenly dismissive of Stephanie now that she won’t become a mermaid.

Stephanie pauses. “Should I take any messages back?” She asks tentatively. She knows that Barbara still has a father back in Gotham. There are many in Gotham that miss Barbara. Her father would love a missive. Stephanie has even heard that a previous Robin was in love with her. Many have been hurt by her disappearance.

Barbara closes her eyes and shakes her head. “They would come for me,” Barbara murmurs. “They never thought I could do something after, after the Joker did that to me. I can do so much more here,” she repeats.

“They miss you,” Stephanie says quietly. Barbara smiles, it looks almost human. “But I suppose it would be difficult to explain,” she says.

“Oh they might even send you off to Arkham,” Barbara says and then sighs. “I miss them too,” she admits. “But I was mostly bed bound. There was stairs everywhere and narrow corridors. Even my beloved library didn’t fit me. Nothing was made for me,” she says musingly. “Not as I was. This,” and she moves her tail slowly through the water. “This gives me a measure of control.”

“I see,” Stephanie says, thinking of Gotham’s twisting lane ways, potted streets, and muddy passages. “If you ever want me to,” she says.

“I will tell you,” Barbara says firmly. She starts to slip into the water as she farewells Stephanie. “I am joining my sisters now. One of them has spotted a ship and now we hunt.” She joins the other mermaids, her wicked smile matching theirs, their tails moving with deadly intent. Stephanie shivers, imagining how fierce they must look when they are attacking a ship.

“Goodbye,” she says, but they have already left, without a backwards glance. Stephanie bites her lip. Cassandra is still there. She beckons Stephanie to follow and Stephanie slips under the water. She half expects to drown again. But the moment of fear, of doubt, is brief. The water is cool and refreshing and a welcome relief from the pin pricks of pain that she feels when she breathes in air.

They move fast, if not as fast as before. Stephanie likes being able to see deep under water where no person has ever seen before. She wonders if anyone else knows how beautiful the deep ocean is. The water grows murkier over time, old boots and barrels becoming frequent, as they approach Gotham harbor. There’s a shipwreck and for a moment Stephanie images she sees a ghost sailor waving at her before she is whisked away.

She gasps as they break the surface, because it hurts and because it is a very unusual experience to go from breathing water, to breathing air. She looks around, hoping no one has seen them. Cassandra has led her to a disused section of the docks. It is also a few hours before dawn, most of the sailors and dock hands would have passed out by now after a night of drunken revelry. Stephanie struggles onto a pier, she rests there for a few seconds, breathing deeply. She isn’t sure how much time has passed since she jumped off the Black Mask’s ship.

“Do you want to me here every Sunday?” She asks Cassandra.

Cassandra nods, teeth glinting a pretty silver in the moonlight. She’s slipping away in the water. Stephanie wearily waves her goodbye before getting to her feet. She can’t imagine what a sight she must look. And even clothed, even at dawn when they will be nursing hangovers, Stephanie prefers not to be around sailors clad in nothing but an ill fitting pink dress.

It feels odd walking again. The ground is unsteady and she trips a few times. She starts to edge her way around Gotham by clinging to the buildings. As the dawn light starts to filter through Gotham’s crowded rooftops, Stephanie is close to Batman’s base. Stephanie stops, breathing deeply.

How is she going to explain how she survived?

Stephanie shakes her head and smiles to herself. Maybe she’ll be lucky enough that he will be so surprised that she survived, he won’t be too concerned about _how_.

A girl can hope.

**Author's Note:**

> Written for trope_bingo, for the space 'transformations'.
> 
> The title comes from the Dead Man's Bones song 'Buried in Water'.
> 
> Thanks to T for reading this over for me.


End file.
